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If Google wins, will that weaken the AGPL? Doesn't the AGPL pretty much copyright APIs?
by mqus 7y ago
If Google wins, will that weaken the AGPL? Doesn't the AGPL pretty much copyright APIs?
- cyphar 7y agoNo, the GNU AGPL doesn't have anything to do with copyright of APIs question (at least, no more than any other copyright license given these court decisions). After all, the GNU AGPL was published in 2007 -- long before this whole legal battle started and even before Android itself was released. The GNU AGPL has additional restrictions that require redistribution of the source code under the GNU AGPL to users which access the software over a computer network (AFAIK those particular restrictions have not yet been tested in court, so it's entirely possible that they're unenforceable).
- belorn 7y agoGPL (and particularly gplv3) was designed to follow the scope of copyright in what ever country it get used in. If a country choose to have a very wide definition of derivative work then that is the rule that GPL will use, while in an other country it can be much more narrower. This case is also about fair use. Like all copyright licenses fair use give people exceptions when the exclusive right of copyright can be broken.